Okay, the 2009 season, my 5th in the sport is off to a great start…sort of! I had a great winter of training including a 20K Trail run in Feb. and my running was there, but not 100% due to an ongoing battle with PF, especially in my left foot. I was slated for the 1/2 IM double of Superfrog/Oceanside 70.3 on back-to-back weekends as I did last year, so I was looking forward to getting it going!
RACE DAY
Well, of course the weather was awesome both the day before and the day after (today) the race, but race day dawned overcast with a light SW wind, same as we had last year for this race. SF (Superfrog) has grown a lot since last year, which is one of the reasons they moved it to Silver Strand from the Base up the road. As a result, the run course changed entirely last year to something a few notches easier than the prior years when you had about 5 1/2 of the 13.1 miles of the run on tortuously soft sand.
My PF was unnoticeable thanks to two days off from running and I was ready to go.
SWIM
I love ocean swims. It’s my one advantage in a triathlon as I’m very comfortable in the waves and the ocean. Last year I managed a 2nd in the swim, but this year’s increased field and deeper talent meant I had some guys ahead of me for sure. I did manage to pass a few guys coming in on each of the two-lap swim by bodysurfing waves right past them. On lap one, I missed the cones on the beach and had to backtrack about 20 yards, but only lost a few seconds. Dumbass!
Came in and saw about 30 minutes as I crossed the mat, about a minute ahead of last year. Who knows if that meant a shorter course or maybe I swam faster? For the sake of ego, I swam faster! Ha, ha.
BIKE
Quick T1. No mistakes to speak of. I was out on the bike into the increasing SW wind right off the bat thinking “this is going to be a carbon copy of last year” with the wind. The first two laps, the northbound trip along the Strand was decidedly easier and I was able to hold 21-23mph without too much effort. The southbound laps I was at about 18mph (I am NOT a great cyclist, in case you were laughing at my top speed!). I had written my bike time from last year along with my 1/2 IM bike PR from Eagleman 2007 on a piece of tape on my top tube. Given the wind, I realized by about 1/2 way through the bike, I could “maybe” go for beating last year’s Superfrog bike split, but a 1/2 IM PR was pretty much out of reach. This course is ridiculously nice. Flat, fast, excellent pavement and 1/2 of a 4-lane highway completely closed for us, so the cycling doesn’t take much concentration, which leaves you to think about the suffering you are doing. It’s definitely more of a mental thing on this course with the lack of mental/visual stimulation.
By lap 3 (of 4), the wind had gone more west, so we had wind in both directions, mainly crosswind, and I was running out of gas a little. I had a Clif Mojo peanut butter crunch bar, without salmonella I think, and some gels and by mile 45, I got a second wind knowing I had just one more lap. I picked it up and started passing people. By now though, we had all the SuperSeal riders on the course with us, so it took a bit more concentration now. Some of the leaders in that race were of course flying by. With about ten miles to go, I saw that last year’s Superfrog bike split could be topped. It was 2:46 (I know, laughable!), so I gave it all I had to go 2:44. Whew! Oh damn, now I have to run a half marathon on the beach!
RUN
T2, somehow one of my shoes came untied while I was out on the bike! WTF? Sabotage perhaps? Anyway, I began the run and chugged along at a slightly uncomfortable pace, which was the plan and settled in to a rhythm. Probably holding somewhere in the 8 flat to 8:15/mile range. Last year’s run was a 1:46, and I set my 1/2 IM PR here last year at 5:08:16. Did I have a shot to break that? I didn’t know, but thought I could. I knew I shaved two minutes off the bike and about 1 off the swim from last year, so it was within reach. I purposely didn’t wear my Garmin because I didn’t want to feel panicky if my pace dropped.
The tide was pretty high, so there was some dodging of the water as it washed up the beach and everyone was trying to cram into the slim margin of packed sand along the water, so it was a little tight along the water’s edge at times. Once up onto the trails at the south end of the run course, we were turned onto a section of the trail that I didn’t recall having to run last year. It was about 1/8th mile of soft sand. Suck! No porta potties on the run course, so I ducked in behind a tree and lost about 30 seconds watering the tree before starting the run again.
The aid stations asked if you wanted “Gatorade”, which I don’t know if the event electrolyte drink provider “Powerade” would have appreciated, but I didn’t care. I saw ST’er JdubCX blow by me on his run as part of a relay team. I think he went about 1:18 for the run!
After lap one, I was zonked, and getting a blister on my left toe, but just got into my “suffer and like it!” mode and pressed on to do another 6.5 miles of agony. I knew after the first lap that I was going to have to negative split the course to break 5:08 for a new 1/2 IM PR. Dang! This was going to hurt! Once I got to the sign that said “mile 10” that was my cue to give it everything I had left. I ramped up to a low 7’s pace and extended my stride. Little did I know the damage I was doing to my left heel. I just kept checking my watch every few minutes and gauging if all this low-grade nausea and breathlessness was going to pay off in the form of a PR. At this point, I just thought, “The faster I run, the faster this suffering will end!”. With a mile to go, I calculated that if I could hold my pace, I’d pull off my goal, just barely. I sprinted for the last mile and rounded the corner through the tunnel (which was DARK) and hoped I didn’t trip on a rat or squirrel before I exited. The finish line was another 100 yards. I saw my watch turn over to 5:06 and I crossed the line 16 second later, for a watch time of 5:06:17 to break my PR from last year by about 2 minutes. I think my run was slower, but the 2 minutes on the bike and 1 on the swim were the deciding factors I guess.
POST RACE
I got my two free hot dogs, chips, Coke, Powerade, and choked it all down even though my stomach wasn’t agreeing with me all that much just yet. It was chilly once you stopped running. After getting home and laying on the couch for about an hour, I got up and could barely walk on my left foot. The heel was killing! Felt like someone took a sledgehammer to it. Damn! Last night, I iced it, and stretched the calf, did a rolling pin, etc., but geez! I have O’side in 5 days, so this thing MUST heal!
This morning, I was hobbling around the house thinking it would loosen up. I decided to go for a 30-minute swim to loosen up a bit. Felt GREAT to swim and I have no soreness from the race, other than my heel, which sucks! Also went bodyboarding after the swim, but it’s still hurting. I have no choice other than to rest it until it doesn’t hurt. I’m confident I’ll be race-ready on Saturday for O’side, but if not, I may have a solid 4-hour walk split. Arrrrggg.
Nice report, and great PR! It takes balls (or stupidity?) to try to crush out a PR the week before your 2nd back-to-back 1/2 IM.
Staying off that heel won’t do you any damage for next week - you know that. Just keep moving in the water and on the bike, and maybe throw in a little tuneup run a day or 2 before Oceanside - you’ll be golden.
Thanks to you, now I kind of want a hot dog, chips and a coke. BASTARD!
Ha, ha. Thanks Khai! They had an option for beef or turkey dogs. You know I went with the beef! They offered to put chili on it, but my stomach was still doing backflips from the run effort, so I had to pass on that. Of course, for dinner, I killed an entire frozen Red Baron pepperoni pizza, a 16oz bottle of Coke and about 5 chocolate chip cookies! Damn, I’m getting hungry just typing that!
O’side, here I come! 
Good job man, and remember: “The only easy day was yeterday.”
.
Yes, the Seal motto, right? Tom, you and Sarah didn’t make it out this year?
Nice job, congrats on the PR. I was chasing you for a while on the run until my wheels came off on the 2nd loop - ended with a 5:16 something. Was it just me or was 40-44 age group stacked this year? Last year a 5:16 would have been close to top 10, this year top 30.
Great job on the PR and race report. The wind shift was not a pleasant. Good luck next week.
Nice job, congrats on the PR. I was chasing you for a while on the run until my wheels came off on the 2nd loop - ended with a 5:16 something. Was it just me or was 40-44 age group stacked this year? Last year a 5:16 would have been close to top 10, this year top 30.
I was 2nd to the same guy as last year and I was 15 minutes faster! Congrats on the PR TBB. I wish I would have know who some of you were so I could have met you.
HIMs on back to back weekends?! and a swim the afternoon after the first one? You’re awesome 
Good luck next weekend and nice job on this past one!
love
tc
way to hold it together man!
Jay,
Good job! Now get some rest.
See later in the week.
PS: how was the water?
TC, Joe Bonness is my hero. I’m working my way up to back-to-back full IM’s one of these years.
Thanks Bob! The water was a non-issue. I was never cold. I wore my neoprene cap and was fine. Saw one guy with no wetsuit, another with no goggles. Oh, and one guy did the bike on a single speed track bike, wearing cutoff sweat pants and a t-shirt.